RI wants win in ASEAN swim meet

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia aims to grab the overall title in the fourth Southeast Asian Students Swimming Championships in the Senayan swimming pool from Aug. 23 to Aug. 25.

The Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) official in charge of technical committee, Gerald P. Item, told a press conference on Thursday that PRSI would field 10 swimmers. Seven of them competed in the just concluded Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam last week.

The seven swimmers are Hendrik Eko, Steven Chandra, Akbar Nasution, Siripiya Sutanto, Ati Yuliani, Nancy Suryaatmadja and Dyah Ayu Rahmani. While three others -- Hanny Prasetyo, Delfina and Hery Yudianto -- will make their international debut here.

Only four countries -- Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam -- have confirmed they will compete. The Philippines is not sending its athletes due to financial problem while Singapore withdrew at the last minutes due to the uncertain security condition following riots in Batam. (yan)